Gareth Southgate debuted the “story” of Ollie Watkins in England, following which the Aston Villa striker won 5–0 against San Marino in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday. Just four years ago, Watkins was playing in the fourth tier with English football exteriors. The 25-year-old has since enjoyed a meteoric rise, joining Brentford in 2017 before moving to Villa last year after finishing as the top scorer in the Championship. He has scored 12 times in his first campaign with the Premier League club, making his England call-up and debut against Mino San San Marino at Wembley.
The first international goal for strikes from James Ward-Prowse and Rahim Sterling came on Watkins after 63 minutes, with England’s four goals thanks to Dominic Calvert-Levine’s Kansa.
Set up by Phil Foden’s pass, Watkins played his first shot in an England shirt with a cool low finish.
Watkins’ smiling face and the joyous celebrations of his teammates underlined that it was a special moment for a player who had to struggle to get to the top.
England boss Southgate, recognizing the importance of the moment, said, “The first thing you saw was the reaction of the rest of the team’s players. It shows how much they are together. They know what it means to them .
“He’s settled in with the group really quickly. He’s a really humble guy and being able to give him half an hour or more is good. It’s not fair for him to achieve a goal?”
Watkins once spent half a season on loan at non-league Weston-super-Mer, giving him all the more appreciation of his immediate success with England.
“It’s incredible, it’s what I’ve dreamed of that I’m honest. I’m speechless,” he said.
He said, “It has been a great journey. I am just honored that I can come here and take off my shirt and get a chance to play with the players I am playing with and also score on my debut I’m doing. I couldn’t write it. I’m over the moon. “
Valuable lesson
Watkins was the story of a stand-out on a comfortable night for England, winning even more if not for the brilliant performance of San Marino keeper Elia Benettettini.
The San Marino match, a trip to Albania on Sunday and a trip to Poland at Wembley on Wednesday are all World Cup qualifiers, but they serve as a significant warm-up for the delayed Euro 2020, which begins in June.
Southgate’s 50th game as England boss will not be remembered by Smriti for long, but he taught the opposition team a lesson.
Calvert-Levine’s predictions were instructive, while Jesse Lingard, Mason Mount and Ward-Prose all set eyes on the midfield.
Southgate said, “I was really happy that the way we moved the ball too quickly and didn’t interchange the position, but the way we lost the ball exposed the mentality of the team for the entire 90 minutes.” . “
“Mason was great in the first half, set the tone. It was nice to see Jessie like he is enjoying his football again, so I thought there were a lot of good things.
“Of course this is a rival we must defeat but I felt that they went about their jobs really well.”
Mount took Ben Chilwell’s run into the penalty area and the left-handed pass was confidently replaced by Ward-Prowess in the 14th minute.
Calvert-Levine doubled England’s lead in the 21st minute as the Everton striker met Resse James’ cross with a clinical post header.
Trailing by an impressive Mount side in the 31st minute, Sterling got third when he weaved a six-yard box for a deflecting shot to Dante Carlos Rosi.
Promoted
England were on top but they scored just two more goals after the break.
In the 53rd minute, Lingard’s cross was swept home by Calward-Levine and with seven minutes left Watkins in the far corner.
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